Outdoor Columnists

Black Forest fire 55% contained; some evacuees allowed to go home

Black Forest evacuees listen closely to a press briefing at Pikes Peak Community College Rampart Range Campus near Monument on June 15, 2013. (Helen H. Richardson, The Denver Post)

Thousands of people were allowed to return home Saturday evening after fire crews increased their hold on the Black Forest fire.

Many more, though, remained displaced, and officials asked those blaze-battered residents for patience while firefighters finish the job.

Rich Harvey, the federal incident commander managing firefighting efforts, said crews had success Saturday in problem areas of the blaze and expected to attack it with equal vigor Sunday. The fire is now 55 percent contained, Harvey said.

At an afternoon news conference, El Paso County Sheriff Terry Maketa said residents living in certain areas on the northern and northwestern edges of the mandatory evacuation zone around the fire would be allowed to go home at 8 p.m. Saturday. The reopened area accounted for about a quarter of the remaining mandatory evacuation zone, Maketa estimated.

Earlier in the day, officials had lifted voluntary and mandatory evacuations for areas in Elbert County and on the fire's western and southwestern sides in El Paso County. Colorado 83 reopened in both directions early Sunday from Powers Boulevard to Walker Road.

The American Red Cross also announced it would be closing two of its three shelters serving the fire. Only the shelter at Palmer Ridge High School in Monument remained open Saturday evening.

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But the good news was tempered by a new assessment that raised the number of homes destroyed in the fire to 482. And, five days after the fire started, the strain on those still out of their homes began to show.

Several dozen residents of Black Forest attended a midday news conference with questions about when they could return to their houses, many of which — if still standing — have remained vacant since Tuesday.

"Please don't sneak in," Maketa said, addressing his comments to residents. "When it is safe to open it up, we will open it up."

At a meeting for Black Forest residents Saturday morning at Palmer Ridge High School, El Paso County Commissioner Darryl Glenn told an overflowing auditorium that he knows people are eager to get back into their homes.

"I know there's a lot of frustration out there," Glenn said.

That frustration became palpable when Glenn stepped aside and the meeting moved to discussions of how to prepare for an evacuation. The audience was told to have all of their valuable information on a flash drive and put their medicines in a prepared evacuation backpack.

Robert Theler waits in line at Highway 83 and Hodgen Road to be escorted to his home in Black Forest by police on Saturday, June 15, 2013. Police were only letting residents in with proof of residence for pets or medications. (Grant Hindsley, The Denver Post)

"It's too late for that," an audience member shouted, as others in attendance cheered him on. Some residents left the meeting early.

"Our home is lost," James Forbus, who attended the community meeting, said outside. "I've talked to the insurance agency, and now the next step is to get into a rental. All of this is just traumatic, but I've got to stay tough for my family and get us some sense of normalcy, and a rental home is that normalcy, for now."

Despite the disaster, many residents vowed to rebuild their lives in Black Forest.

"We are at home in the forest and we love the forest," said Don Callender, whose home was destroyed. "We don't want to leave. If it's a piece of property that all the trees has burnt down, I'll plant new trees. If the house is damaged, I'll repair it."

Black Forest evacuees look at a map of the perimeter of the Black Forest fire after a press briefing at Pikes Peak Community College Rampart Range Campus near Monument on June 15, 2013. (Helen H. Richardson, The Denver Post)

Investigators have not yet determined what started the fire, though Maketa has said it is likely to have been human-caused.

The remains of two people who appeared to have been packing up to evacuate were found in the fire's ashes, which prompted officials to start thinking of the origin investigation as a homicide case. Maketa said there were no new details to report about those deaths Saturday. He said it is still uncertain when the names of the deceased will be released.

Meanwhile, sheriff's deputies spent Saturday attempting to determine whether anyone else perished in the fire. Maketa said deputies cross-checked a list of people who refused to evacuate with a list of homes that were destroyed. It was determined that all of them were safe.

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